


Kissing the Sun

by LadyHallen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Naruto
Genre: Crossover, Don't copy to another site, Don't repost, Female Harry Potter, Friendship, Gen, Genderbend, Genius children, PTSD, Reincarnation, Survivors Guilt, snippet style writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:49:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 7,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28688949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyHallen/pseuds/LadyHallen
Summary: Harry Potter Reincarnates into Konoha, into a little girl named Uzumaki Serika.This changes some things but a lot of other things remain the same.Mostly Snippets
Relationships: Harry Potter & Uzumaki Kushina, Harry Potter & Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi & Harry Potter
Comments: 101
Kudos: 735





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please do not actually expect writing from this. 
> 
> I'm just posting snippets.
> 
> The title comes from a flower facing the sun, ergo...

There were many refugee’s that came to Konoha after Uzu fell and most of them went to the orphanages. This caused a swell in orphanage capacity that a lot of them actually got created just to house the new arrivals.

Of course, not all of them needed the orphanage, but that was a whole other slew of problems in itself. But that was another point.

And then, the second war between villages happened and it upped the orphan population to shocking proportions. 

This was, perhaps, the reason why another red-headed child with green eyes was nothing significant, nothing special. If she was unusually serious, this was attributed to a possible childhood trauma and probable shinobi parents - those types usually had very smart progeny.

Serika was given the surname of Uzumaki because of her red hair and also by sheer accident. This led to a series of happenings that the reincarnated witch - for that was what she was - attributed to her Damned Potter Luck. It seemed capable of crossing dimensions and defying death itself.

Jounin kunoichi, Uzumaki Kushina, happened to pass by when one of Serika’s many tormentors caused a scene by pulling on her hair. Never one to take something like _that_ lying down, Serika surged up and planted a fist squarely on the boys nose. The scene wasn’t the hair pulling, per se. It was the stupid boy’s scream when the blood gushed out of his broken nose.

Serika just sat quietly at the side while the orphanage Matron fussed over the whimpering boy and, while that would have been inconspicuous for civilians, the good kunoichi noticed immediately. And got attracted by the familial features they shared. It only took some small bit of inquiry and reluctant document retrieval by the aforementioned kunoichi’s boyfriend that set the ball rolling.

Uzumaki Serika found herself adopted when she found a manic woman with deep red hair grinning at her from ear to ear, with barely a hint of anxiety in it. An apologetic blonde man stood behind her, trying and obviously failing to control the woman.

“We’re cousins, dattebane!” the kunoichi crowed delightedly. “You don’t have to live here. I asked the Old Man Hokage and he said yes. Sort of. Minato just batted his pretty boy eyes at him and he caved like a sandcastle.”

The man squawked but the woman spoke over his objections, flashing him a grin that had him flushing a light pink.

“Is there a point to all this?” Serika said before the woman could open her mouth again. “Coz if you continue, he’s gonna turn pretty red.”

Minato groaned, turning an even deeper shade of red and proving Serika’s point. Kushina paused, before grinning – if possible – wider than ever. “You and I will get along, ttebane. You like cooking?”

Serika looked caught off-guard by the question. “Eh? No…I mean, cooking is fine, just not when I’m tired.”

Kushina took off with her newly acquired cousin, leaving Minato to take care of Serika’s meagre belongings, though, for all his protests, he was smiling at the scene the two women presented.

“I’m home,” he called as he finally got to the house.

“Welcome home!” Kushina called back, the response echoed faintly by a smaller, more hesitant voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to arrange the snippets chronologically so it's going to be a bit. Maybe tomorrow, I can post two snippets.


	2. Chapter 2

It was sort of inevitable for the two genii to be lumped together.

While Serika wasn’t the sort of prodigy that Kakashi obviously was, it became clear within a couple of days that her thought processes were simply faster than all the other children put together. 

Things became really obvious when Serika managed to pull off a stunt that had the Chuunin instructors scratching their heads at while it made the Jounin listening about the incident chuckling in their sake cups.

Her energy was excused, given that she was an _Uzumaki_. Kushina had already set the precedent of hyperactive and easily distracted. To keep up the idea was easy. However, this contributed to her getting called a genius, given that she kept acing all tests.

And that was how she was lumped together with a six year old prodigy.

Serika looked at the reclusive boy and sighed. While she dithered about what to say, Kakashi spoke first.

“How did you rig the trap that stuck sensei to the roof?” the boy demanded.

Thankfully, he had chosen a topic that Serika was willing to talk about.

“I coated the walls with chakra – I asked Minato-san how – and he got distracted with that. Kushina-san taught me how to camouflage the strings to the floor. It was simple enough to spring the trap,” she said.

Kakashi’s eyes were wide. The other children were silent too, only small murmurs being heard. They had never actually _seen_ either of the prodigies talking or if they talked, it was in small words and perfunctory sentences.

“Otou-san taught me how to walk on walls,” Kakashi offered.

Serika beamed at him.

.

* * *

.

Kushina was ecstatic when the two became friends. 

Serika and Kakashi looked at her blankly and then exchanged glances of slight disbelief.

“Are we friends?” he asked. Being a socially stunted little fellow, he didn’t exactly know if that was true.

Serika was equally dubious since her memories were a bit blurry and, though she had friends in her faded memories, they weren’t good reference points since most of them became friends through deadly adventures.

“I suppose so,” she said. “What do friends do anyway?”

That was the next mission.

Both children usually spent their free time sparring or figuring out how to trap people. Serika was very good with traps and Kakashi had perfected the art of taking down someone bigger than him. They shared the knowledge and tried to one-up each other.

Looking at people and trying to figure out “ _friends”_ was something different.

“The girls all giggle and talk about their hair,” Serika reported.

Kakashi looked a bit revolted. “Ugh! The boys all talk about classes and how boring it is.”

After a moment’s contemplation, she spoke up. “So…in essence, being friends is having someone to complain to?”

That was three days of reconnaissance and they still didn’t know what the fuss was all about.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn’t long before Serika met Kakashi’s father. It was only fair after Kakashi met Kushina and Minato.

Serika stared at the friendly, smiling, white-haired man and then blinked at her small friend. Having the memories of an older woman, she easily recognized how handsome the man was.

“Your father is a very exotic-looking person,” she said. “Is that why you wear a mask?”

Kakashi scowled at her. “I wear a mask because it smells outside.”

Serika just nodded. She didn’t know that it was probably the only time Kakashi would ever give a person a straight answer. “Hello,” she said, turning to the man who was looking at their interaction with bemusement. “My name is Uzumaki Serika.”

Hatake Sakumo looked to be holding back laughter. “Yes, Kakashi told me. I am Hatake Sakumo. Call me Oji-san.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You don’t look much like an oji-san,” she remarked. “I suppose the white-hair will have to do.”

In unison, father and son corrected her, “its silver, not white!”

Serika nodded again. “Alright. It’s shiny enough to be silver.”

.

* * *

.

Serika was often taken by Kushina to random places that were either very beautiful or had great food.

In turn, Serika took Kakashi to all places dog related after she saw the dog care books in his room. No arguments could dissuade the girl since Kakashi practically beamed at her when he saw the Inuzuka Kennels and the vet.

It was also sort of inevitable for her to meet the Hokage, given that her self-appointed aunt (self-appointed since no one really knew who her parents were and how far from the Uzumaki tree Kushina and Serika was) was an S-rank secret.

The old man took one look at the solemn, red-haired, soon-to-be-genin and sighed, pinching his nose. “Kushina,” he said, sounding very put-upon. “She is a bit too young to be graduating early. Have you been teaching her things you shouldn’t have?”

Kushina looked too innocent for it to be real. Everybody gave her skeptical look, even Minato.

“Kushina,” the Hokage started again.

Here, Minato interrupted. “I don’t think it’s really Kushina-san’s fault, Sandaime-sama. Serika-chan picks up things she sees very quickly and she hangs out with Kakashi-kun as well.”

The last bit had the crease between his eyebrows disappearing. Serika watched in interest. It seemed as though mentioning Kakashi’s name _explained_ everything.

How strange.

.

* * *

.

Serika graduated early, though not as early as Kakashi. She was behind him by just a month and by then the Chuunin instructors were on the verge of pulling their hair out.

Many students in the academy actually _missed_ Kakashi. They never knew they could associate that feeling with the aloof, anti-social boy, but they did. Kakashi, when he was still a student, had managed something that no one else had done and that was to control Serika’s boundless energy and curiosity.

That was a bad combination, no matter how you looked at it and it often placed her in situations that were awkward, strange, embarrassing, or just plain damn weird.

Kakashi had actually done that unconsciously and without any intention. He had directed her energy to sparring and simple little competitions.

Unchanneled, her energy went back to practicing her traps on the Chuunin instructors and the other students. It was a very dark age for the academy.

When Serika finally graduated, the Chuunin instructors actually celebrated and the students gave themselves little pats on the back.

Serika just thought that the academy was a bit noisier these days.


	4. Meeting the Team

Serika blinked at the ragtag group right in front of her.

She never thought that she would use that term in conjunction with Kakashi, or Minato-san, but this image here was the very solid proof. No matter how good a shinobi Kakashi was, teamwork seemed very far from his grasp.

Suddenly, her awkward interactions with her teammates weren’t so bad. At least they were _talking_. This one was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. _Really, really slow motion_. She felt like crying for him, it was just that bad.

“Uhm,” she finally said, voice soft with indecision. “Minato-san is Obito-san supposed to greet Kashi-kun that way?”

The blonde man shot her a wry grin. “Oh, you mean an attempted punch to the face, which Kakashi dodges, then Obito would overshoot and land in the river? Well, no. But that’s what usually happens.”

Mirth finally found purchase and it cracked her voice when she finally managed, “And I suppose that Katon jutsu is normal too?”

Minato finally looked to where Kakashi seemed to be attempting to roast his Uchiha teammate and intervened just in time to save Obito the scorching.

“Really,” the female teammate finally interrupted. Serika wondered what she was doing the whole time while the boys greeted each other. “I have to patch you up again huh, Obito-kun.”

Serika’s eyebrows climbed to her hairline when the female and the Uchiha settled by the riverbanks, not even sparing a greeting for their teacher that had arrived when they were in the middle of the drama. It must have been a normal occurrence. 

Serika gave Minato a look of skepticism and he blushed, scratching the back of his head with embarrassment. “It’s not that bad, usually,” he said. “They just need to get used to each other.”

It had been nearly two months after graduation. And she told him so.

“They haven’t fought together, that’s all,” Minato reassured her. “Fighting each other and fighting together makes all the difference in the world.”

He had a point. But she hoped it would be soon. With the stirrings of war beyond the secure gates of the village, she wanted the reassurance that her good friend would be well cared for.

“It’s time for me to meet my sensei, Kashi-kun,” she called out. The trio of genin turned and Obito and the female, Rin, blushed in unison when they realized she had been watching.

There really was no need to introduce Serika. She was as famous as Kakashi was, which she really found weird. 

“Take care of yourself,” Kakashi answered, waving a tired but polite hand.

She gave him a ‘ _look’_. “ _You_ take care of yourself. Especially with this lot,” she added, which made Kakashi laugh and the rest of the team splutter in indignation, though she could tell that Minato was serious.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After the Kyuubi, and Naruto is a squalling baby in another room, Serika and Kakashi have a conversation.

Serika looked at Kakashi who was gingerly sitting across her.

“Could you even guess?” she asked, looking down at her tea. “That things would turn out like this, Kashi?”

 _This_ was such a broad word for it. The Kyuubi, Sakumo-oji’s suicide, and everything else. And being charged with hunting down missing-nin.

Serika hears him exhale.

“I don’t think anyone can predict the future, Rika,” he murmurs softly. “Thing’s just went _downhill_.”

Of course it did. And thus, among all their friends and acquaintances, it was back with just the two of them. 

Depressing stuff, right there.

“I’m applying for ANBU,” he said next and Serika’s breath shuddered out.

“Of course you are,” she whispered. With his ears, he hears it and perks up. 

“What does that mean?” he asked. 

Oh, he took it the wrong way. She had to fix it soon before they would end up arguing. He was all he had left, aside from little Naruto, and she didn’t want him to leave angry.

“You would try to erase the sins you think you have,” she said, quoting something that Minato-san had once told her. “I know you think ANBU does that. But...can I ask you something, Kashi?”

He had eased himself back into the chair, a small quirk of worry in his eyebrows.

“If I can do it,” he said earnestly.

“Just, I know it’s hard,” she started. “But please don’t disappear in ANBU. I know it would be easy to. But Naruto needs you too, if just to hear stories about his father.”

“Serika,” he interrupted but she cut across him.

“No,” she said firmly. “I know it’s against the law, but you don’t _have_ to mention shinobi battles or flashy jutsu. Tell him about his _father_. What made him laugh, what made him smile. You don’t have to mention his name.”

Kakashi shuddered but Serika nodded to herself. She had made her point at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a SAD snippet.


	6. Chapter 6

It wasn’t an easy thing, to be a survivor.

Serika knew that and understood _why_ she couldn’t sleep. That didn’t mean that her body cooperated or anything. It seemed that no matter the universe, she would be plagued with survivors guilt.

At least Naruto was a cute baby to watch when he was asleep. He sucked on his teddy bear and his hands did really cute starfish movements.

It also helped that her nightly endeavors into Naruto’s room made it easier for her to take care of him in the morning. He really didn’t just look like his father, he _smiled_ like Kushina-oneechan too. While it hurt all the time, staring at him at night helped. It helped her remember that he was alive. At least of all the terrible casualties of that day, one survived.

She could hold him and not flinch.

And she hoped that soon, she could look at him without feeling like she was being stabbed in the heart.


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto’s first memory was red hair and a small smile that was as rare as diamonds. 

Next, he remembers gentle hands and a soft voice that sounded very sad.

Naruto can’t really say all this of course. But his guardian, she of the soft, sad voice, taught him to meditate and by that course, he met his furry little tenant. After the initial shock and hyperventilation, his Serika-nee giving him a lot of ramen to calm him down, he talked to the Fox.

He didn’t immediately become friendly. The Fox was as cold as they could get, but Naruto’s guardian, his Serika-nee, was like that as well. Not to him of course, but to everybody else. She only ever smiled with him. So he knew that the Fox was hurting and was tired. Naruto persevered and the only thing he wrangled from his tenant, so far, was how to navigate inside his mind.

And he saw his first memories, faded little things that they were that reflected on a still pool of water in slow replays. He saw those memories, of walking for the first time on his two legs and being held by two strong, yet gentle hands, of sunshine on his face and red hair shielding him from the sun.

It helped his temper.

Naruto had a temper, he would admit. He hated Sasuke-teme and hated the rest of the village too. He didn’t like seeing his Serika-nee mangling the training posts in her fury, or the rare and occasional visit from Kakashi-nii dissolving into awkward tension.

He would be the first to admit his pranks were attention grabbing because he wanted to tell people something important, if only they would listen to him long enough.

So if Ino goaded him long enough, he would think of that still pool of water and try not to punch her. Even if she was training to be a shinobi, she was still a girl. Serika-nee would be so disappointed in him for allowing himself to be goaded into starting a fight.

Eventually, it helped him remember things too, even if he had the attention span of a wandering gnat. (He would admit that. Serika-nee said that to his face in complete exasperation enough times.) So he could remember the lessons that Serika-nee painstakingly made plain for him, notes meticulously written carefully and methodically for him to understand.

He wasn’t the dead-last in the class, thank goodness, or else Serika-nee would kill him. He was on average, actually right below Shikamaru Nara’s dumbed down scores.

It still surprised him when he was on the ‘ _problem team’_ , the one that Serika-nee had told him to do his best not to be placed in.

“That’s a difficult team, Naruto-kun,” she had whispered to him when he’d asked. “It’s a team that will either be great, or result in the greatest tragedy.”

So no, he didn’t cheer when Iruka-sensei announced his team placement, even if he was placed with his crush. This was the problem team and he didn’t want to be kicked back to the Academy. He wanted to make his sister proud and become the Hokage, bugger it!


	8. Chapter 8

Serika was cooking dinner when Naruto slams the door open, a ferocious scowl on his face.

“Welcome ho - “ she said, before cutting herself off. The look on his face reminded her of when Minato-san forgot that it was their anniversary and Kushina-san wanted to eviscerate him.

“What’s wrong?” she asked him.

Naruto slammed down his little knapsack on the sofa. “It was a complete accident!” he yelled. “I didn’t mean to kiss him, ttebayo!”

Kiss? _Him?_ A boy? What was this? And so young too!

“What?” she demanded, turning off the fire with flick of her fingers. “Who was this?”

Naruto finally registered that he was ranting to her, his _aunt_ about his _first kiss_. He turned as red as paint and buried his face in his hands.

“Ugh! Rika-nee! I was glaring at Sasuke’s face and then someone shoved me and then! And then!” he flailed.

It didn’t take long for her to connect the dots and then Naruto was in her face, growling like one of Kakashi-kun’s dogs and Serika couldn’t _stop laughing_.

“Rika-nee!” he whined. “It’s not funny!”

Oh, the poor boy. He was mortified.

“Don’t,” she choked, drowning with mirth. “Don’t be soo angry, Naruto-kun. In a few years, you’ll look back in this and laugh.”

He scowled, adorable foxy face grumpy and annoyed. “It’s not ‘a few years’ now! It’s stupid and stop laughing.”

Serika gave up on dinner and just settled on take-out. Ramen for dinner went a long way to make Naruto forgive her for laughing at him.


	9. Chapter 9

There was a man - a shinobi, a couple of stools down the bar.

He had straight brown hair and a wicked smile that he aimed at her, mouthing the senbon in his mouth and winking at her.

Serika had met her fair share of handsome men because enemy shinobi weren’t all ugly and idiots and she was also one of the few people who had seen Kakashi without his mask. (There really was a point to it, he was an exotic sort of handsome.)

Still, just because she had seen a lot of fish in the sea, it didn’t always mean that the fish looked back. This was the first time she was hit on so blatantly and she couldn’t help it. She blushed and studied her drink like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

A minute later and someone slid in the empty stool beside her.

“So what’s a woman like you doing, drinking alone?” he drawled out.

Where in the world was her courage? she wondered. Probably the same place her stomach went to - lodged in her throat.

“I’m not alone,” she managed. “I’m waiting for Kashi - Kakashi.” She had to correct the name, not everyone was allowed to give Kakashi a nickname. As far as Serika could guess, only her and Gai was allowed to call Kakashi names.

His eyebrows went up. “Ah, a date?” he inquired. “He’s a little gloomy for a drinking partner.”

“He’s just being nice,” Serika corrected. “It’s a late birthday present.”

The smirk returned. “Oh, you’re _that_ birthday girl. I was just with a mission with him this afternoon. Poor bastard was hurrying like we were being chased by missing-nin or something,” he said.

Serika felt a smile bloom on her face, rare enough that her muscles felt a little unused, but she really had scant few reason to smile these days. 

The shinobi blinked a couple of times at the sight of it and then gave a signal for another round without taking his eyes off her.

“You have a ridiculously beautiful smile,” he told her in a matter of fact tone. “It’s a bit disarming, you could use it for a weapon.”

As flattery went, this was one of the better ones. Serika snorted a little, downing her drink and eating up the last of her chips.

“And you have a silver tongue. You could probably talk enemy shinobi to conquering their own village,” she retorted.

He raised his glass in salute. “Good one. Shiranui Genma,” he finally said. 

Serika paused with her movements, half-buried memories of Minato-san’s guards and a very familiar senbon-chewing shinobi being one of them rising up to the surface.

“Uzumaki Serika,” she said slowly. “I thought you looked familiar, Shiranui-san.”

He groaned. “Oh dear. What did I do now?”

The wary tone made her laugh. This was the tone of a man who got in trouble with women often - and knew it too.

“No,” she said, mirth choking up her voice. “No, it’s alright. I just remembered you from Minato-san’s bodyguards. You visited my home often, if only to pick him up for work or to make sure he actually got there.”

Shiranui-san looked at her then, really _looked_ at her and it made the hair at the back of her neck stand up. There was nothing more unnerving than to be properly looked at by a Tokubetsu Jounin.

“Oh,” he breathed in, realization on his face. “ _Uzumaki_. I didn’t catch on to that sooner.”

She nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”

They went over two more rounds and a weird silence when Shiranui broke it by giving a little laugh. It seemed that it wasn’t only Kakashi and Serika that thought of the dead Yondaime often.

“You taking care of his brat then?” he asked in a soft voice.

Hmm, state secrets. But she was allowed to discuss it with someone who knew. Shiranui-san had to have known, visiting the Uzumaki building so often.

“As well as I can,” she answered back, voice just as soft. “It’s nice to see you, Shiranui-san. I have to go home now, and it seems that Kashi-kun decided to make me wait two hours this time.”

He nodded back, touching her hands when she was about to drop a bill to pay for her drinks. “Nope, I don’t think that bastard made you wait at all. He’s paid your tab in full already. Look to the bartender.”

She did and had to stuff the bills back to her wallet. The hand signals that the bartender was giving out said that he had paid for her tab in full _three weeks ahead,_ which was the exact time that Kakashi got his mission.

What a bleedingly thoughtful bastard.

“Thank you,” she told him. Her hands tingled where he touched it. Damn it, he really was a nice one, if a little older than her.

“Call me Genma, Uzumaki-kun,” he said with crooked smile. “I’m feeling ancient here, with all that formality.”

She flushed. “Call me Serika. I really have to go now.”

Serika went. She wasn’t blushing, nor was she running away. 

Nope, she really wasn’t but she the lingering blush stung in the cool evening air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My attempt at a pairing? 
> 
> Just romance? IDK, it didn't pan out well, but Serika was experimenting here. 
> 
> This was when Naruto was still around four years old and Serika had enough time to go to bars.


	10. Chapter 10

Kakashi didn’t mean to. He honestly didn’t.

Among all the things he had left in his life, Serika was one of the most precious ones, though he wouldn’t be telling her that. She’d never let him forget it either.

But he missed Serika’s birthday by two weeks when the mission over ran its course. He’d timed it too, plotting it out that he could pass by one of the antique shops that used corals and made them into something beautiful. Something from Uzu was always appreciated. Serika might have been a proud kunoichi of Konoha, but she was a creature of Uzu and she wasn’t afraid to claim that heritage.

That bloody damned ambush really didn’t make it into his plans though. Genma might call him whipped when he muttered about missing Serika’s birthday, but he wasn’t the one to see her face fall in disappointment.

However, Serika wasn’t angry, or disappointed. She was just very, very relieved.

“You’re alive!” she cried, clutching at his ANBU armor and grounding him to the earth. No matter how slight she was, Serika was a kunoichi and slightness had nothing to do with precise use of chakra to pull him down to her height.

“What happened?” he asked because that wasn’t the usual reaction when returning from missions.

She gave him a watery smile.

“It’s Naruto,” she whispered. “That bloody damn traitor nearly got him with that Fuuma Shuriken. I owe Iruka-kun a week-long free dinner.”

Kakashi runs a hand through his hair with a sigh. “Get in line,” he muttered.

Serika laughed. “Oh, Kashi,” she said happily, leaning on him and he doesn’t complain.

“Happy birthday,” he finally remembered to say.

She beamed at him and it is the best homecoming in the world.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Serika Meets Naruto's Genin Team.

Serika scowled.

Kakashi gave his best puppy look, which really was quite good. Must be a side-effect of his Dog Summons. Huh, maybe she should try getting summons too, her chakra was certainly large enough.

“I’ll consider it,” she said.

The next day, Serika found herself dragging one Dog Summoner by the ear and being eagerly followed by Naruto who was grinning wide enough to split his face, headed straight to the bridge by Training Ground 3. Her scowl would have been frightening but it was being offset by Naruto’s foxy grin that made everyone who knew him well enough some alarm.

“Well?” she asked, looking around. There was a distinct lack of teammates. “Where are the rest of the brats?”

In her mind, she thought of another Team 7 that usually started their own day by an amazingly wet splash. Literally.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. “Ahaha, we might be a little early, Rika-chan,” he mumbled.

Mornings weren’t good for her. She didn’t sleep well usually and greeted mornings with scowls and a lot of coffee. She suspected Kakashi to be suffering insomnia too, but he was a better actor than her. He always had been. It must be her Uzumaki blood making her a bit more volatile. She certainly didn’t remember being this hot-headed in her past life.

“Spar,” she barked. “Please Kashi-kun?”

He looked at her, lone gray eye glinting and he nodded silently. He understood why of course.

The pace they started with was fast, but that eventually went faster. Kakashi was the fastest shinobi, having trained under Minato-san, but Serika was no slouch either. 

She blocked the kunai going for her thigh and used her momentum to knock him off-balance. He shifted his foot and put his knee up, aiming to make her lose her breath. She put her hands on his knee and kicked up, using it as a leverage to compensate for the height difference. Kakashi blocked it with a wrist, grunting with surprise at the force behind the kick.

They broke off, not even breathing hard. That was just warm up.

Kakashi disappeared in a sunshin and Serika ducked, anticipating the knife-chop going for her neck. She caught his hand and yanked him forward to throw him over one shoulder but he used his other hand and pushed himself lose. Serika followed it through with a kunai, behind it was a water bullet.

Kakashi’s lone eye widened and he ducked down quickly followed it through with a fire jutsu. Hand signs, faster than the eye could follow, and she ducked behind the earth wall.

It would have gone on longer but Naruto was shouting. Serika always listened for Naruto’s voice that it was ingrained in her very bones.

“That was awesome!” Naruto cried, jumping up and down. “You went _whoosh!_ and then _kapow!_ and Kakashi-sensei was like _boom!_ and then _Fssh!”_

It continued in that vein for a moment and Serika exchanged wry looks with Kakashi. He always lost his adjectives when he was excited. It was a bad habit she tried to break. Behind him were two other children, with bright hair and dark hair.

“Shut up, dobe,” the dark haired one said.

“You sound stupid, Naruto,” the bright haired one agreed, confirming that it was a girl.

Serika felt her eyebrows climbing up. She gave the sheepish Kakashi a pointed look ,feeling a severe déjà vu. “Really?” she asked. “This is your team, Kashi-kun?”

He finally let out a chuckle. “Yeah. Gives you flashbacks, doesn’t it?”

“Who are you?” the dark haired one demanded. “What were you doing with our sensei?”

She approached and saw - ah. Uchiha. Okay, that explained the look in his eyes.

“My name is Uzumaki Serika,” she said voice very quiet. It was a tactic she learned. It took a special kind of voice that made people listen to you, weighty and soft. People strained to listen to it, giving it their whole attention. “I am Kakashi-kun’s classmate and Naruto’s aunt. You are a very rude boy.”

She didn’t believe in mincing things. Kakashi didn’t either, but Naruto had inherited some tact, which surprised her given who his mother was. Kushina-san really didn’t know tact. He must have inherited it from his father, which explained his face palm.

“Uzumaki Serika!” the little kunoichi in training gushed. “You’re the one that held up an entire contingent of Kumo-nin by yourself, allowing your squad to retreat and regroup!”

There were bloodier and scarier stories about her. Serika appreciated that that was the one the girl heard about. Bloody damn gossiping harpies.

“Yes,” she answered. “And you are...?”

“Haruno Sakura,” the girl replied. “It’s brilliant to meet you.”

She was very... _eager_. Serika turned her attention to the Uchiha, the one with eyes like the living dead.

“I have met them, Kashi-kun,” she said softly, so that only he could hear it. “What now?”

He gave her a small smile that could be seen through the edges of his mask. “Now, you become a good influence,” he said just as softly. “See how the kunoichi is not trying a failed version of flirting?”

Naruto probably heard because he collapsed on the ground laughing.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post-Wave Arc

Naruto came home, face so morose that the only thing missing from it were tears.

Serika dropped the mug she was holding and rushed to him, remembering her cousin’s emotive face doing the same thing once when she and Minato-san fought.

Naruto wasn’t crying outwardly, but inside, he was wailing. He was literally inches away from sobbing.

“Naruto,” she said softly, forgoing the suffix to catch his attention. “What happened?”

He hiccupped. Oh, he wasn’t ready yet.

She tugged his gently to the table, feet automatically sidestepping the broken mug and pushing him to his favorite chair. It was the work of a moment to make a clone. Dinner waited for no one and while she took care of her nephew, she might as well start dinner.

“Are you injured?” she asked.

He shook his head. Then, in a move so fake, he mustered up a smile that was a shadow of his real smile and said, “I’ll just unpack, Rika-nee.”

She sighed. “Take a hot shower. You’ll feel better, trust me.”

He nodded and slowly trudged up the stairs. When he was out of earshot, her clone remarked, “That one has just witnessed death.”

Serika gave it a wry look. “Yeah, I know.”

The clone shrugged and went back to chopping carrots.

Serika cleaned the remains of her mug and tried not to murder Kakashi too many ways inside her head. That baka. He was always terrible at teaching.

Things eventually unloaded before bedtime.

“I made a friend,” he said. “His name was Haku and he was kind. He smiled…the way he smiled reminded me how you described kaa-san: gentle and sweet. Then…”

Serika listened to it all and seethed. There were pauses and words he didn’t say that made Serika want to throw fireball jutsu at her best friend and hope he got a paralysis tag on his leg.

“Why does everybody have to fight?” he asked, in the end. “Why can’t we all just get along?”

Damn if she knew. In her last life, that was her question too.

“I won’t say it’s human nature,” she said softly. “Because that’s just making excuses for the failures of the human race. But I will say that its mostly because of misunderstandings and centuries-old prejudices. People hear, but they don’t listen, Naruto-kun.”

He buried his face into her shoulder. “But if I try – “ he started, only to cut himself off. “Is it as hard as trying to become the Hokage?” he asked instead. “To heal old rifts, I mean.”

Serika kissed his forehead and prepared to get out of bed. “Harder. Way, way harder. The key to it, is to make them understand,” she whispered in his ear. “There is always another way.”

Naruto finally smiled then. “I’ll find it,” he whispered fiercely.

Serika’s smile was fond. “I know you will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments please....


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Needing a break from his genin, Kakashi cons Serika into babysitting for a bit.

Serika was watching the bubbles float to the surface when Kakashi arrived, hair mussed and cheeks flushed.

“Are you trying to drown yourself in your own bathtub?” he asked, not even trying to deter her.

Serika doesn’t even blush. Both of them had gone on enough missions together, gotten injured together, that modesty doesn’t even factor into it.

“Why do you care?” she muttered, lips underwater. “ _You’re_ the one who gets to go on a tracking mission. I’m the one who gets to stay here, babysitting _Genin._ ”

He pats her on the fingertips, the only dry part of her he could reach.

“ _I_ didn’t mean to imply that,” he said, adopting her tone. “And besides, when you get your own brats, I’ll return the favor.”

She sighed, bubbles floating to the surface. Breathing underwater was such a nice trick to use when you were trying to emulate drowning.

“I don’t think I shall,” she answered. “Since I almost gave Kita-sensei nearly as much trouble as you, then that just means I’ll get a broody one, a kunoichi with social issues and another one that likes monologuing too much.”

He laughed. “Technically, you don’t get to revisit your own genin team, Rika-chan.”

She gave him a look of disbelief. “Really? This coming from the man who got one that’s nearly a replica of his own genin team?”

It was true. Kakashi just shrugged. “Now, you’re just being bitchy in pointing that out, Rika-chan.”

She sighed again, lazily watching the bubbles drift to the surface. “Shut up and let me drown. My best friend is skipping town, leaving me to watch his own genin team _weeks_ away from the Chunin Exams.”

He left with a parting reply of, “You’re wasting chakra! Don’t blame me if you drown!”

Serika didn’t mind that. It would take something really extraordinary to make an Uzumaki feel the burn of chakra use and something really out of this world to make her feel chakra exhaustion.


	14. Chapter 14

Naruto sometimes forgot that his nee-chan was a kunoichi. 

She was a constant in his life, always gentle and always firm that he forgot that she could be brutal and efficient as well.

She wielded the tanto with bloody effect, each movement tailored to work. It was the enhanced version of the Academy’s hard-soft movements. Except, he’d never really seen anybody take those lessons to such extremes. 

“Naruto!” she exclaimed, breaking him out of his stupor. “Stop dawdling. Go after Sasuke and back him up. Get some of the others with you.”

Naruto jerked a bit, before nodding. There was a look in her eyes that told him that she knew what she was asking. Serika-nee had to know what was wrong with Gaara, didn’t she? Serika-nee was smart. She taught him to think smart.

“Try to come back, Naruto,” she added softly, his ears only catching it because of how sharp they were.

Oh, he would try to come back. He had to because he still had to become Hokage, and he still had to fulfill that promise he made with Kakashi-nii when he was younger, of making life easier on Serika-nee by becoming loved in the village, so she wouldn’t have to worry about him.

Unbidden, the image of Serika-nee crying over an old photograph came to him and he scowled. 

No, he really wouldn’t be leaving her alone.

“Sakura,” he called as he landed beside her, absently ducking under a kunai and kicking the man on the shins. “We have to go after Sasuke.”

Sakura nodded. “I know. Kakashi-sensei told me the same thing. Kiba, Shino and Shikamaru are over there, under genjutsu.” She gestured at the same time that she threw two shuriken. It pinned another shinobi with precision and the man was pinned with the wire she tied between it.

Hmm, that was something to try out....

Ah, right! Invasion...

“I’ll clear the way, you wake them up?” he asked, seeing as she was better than him at genjutsu.

Sakura nodded. “Yeah, you better. You hit harder too.”

Naruto’s brain rodent gave a little wiggle at that compliment from his crush, but he squashed it firmly. Nope, not the time.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Post Invasion of the Village, Serika in the Hospital.

“You fell asleep,” Kakashi told her when she woke up.

Serika was a little disappointed not to see the rest of Team Seven, but that was a given. They were genin. And impatient genin at that.

“It’s alright,” she said. “I’m just a little stiff. How are your injuries faring?” 

He rolled his shoulders, likely because he couldn’t shrug. “It was just a scratch, Rika. Stop worrying.”

She hated that when he said it. She didn’t worry needlessly. She wasn’t a bloody worry-wart. No she wasn’t. She had a reason for worrying, especially when the jounin she worried over was such an asshole that he didn’t bother with basic first aid.

“Pardon me,” she answered, voice high and stiff. “But I will allow myself to worry. You bloody ass, there’s a reason why a team has a medic, you know!”

Kakashi tensed. It could be seen by the obvious shifting in his muscles. “So I wasn’t allowed to worry about my cute little students? You little hypocrite, Rika-chan. Try not to drown me in your bullshit.”

Oh, botheration. He really was like a cat, even if he claimed to be part-dog. His hackles were raised and there would be no talking to him now. Well, she really didn’t have the time to talk to him. Tsunade had a mission for her.

“No, you know what? I’m not talking to you!” she hissed. “I’m going to leave you here and tell you that you’re an asshole that don’t even think about what you dying would do to my mind.” She breathed deeply before dropping a proverbial rock on him. “My mind isn’t whole, Kashi. Shimon-san told me this before. You and Naruto are my only anchors in this village. If either of you die, I don’t think I’ll survive it!”

She stormed out before he could answer. Serika didn’t even look at his face. She didn’t think she could bear his pity.

Of all the bloody people her sanity decided to anchor itself to, it had to be a moron with a suicidal wish.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serika and Kakashi Encounters Uchiha Itachi

Serika was too experienced to allow shock to stiffen her limbs.

Without pausing, she darted forward and caught Kakashi’s limp form, carefully placing him where he wouldn’t be hit by any stray jutsu or kunai. Then, she carefully watched Maito Gai go toe to toe with one of the more infamous missing-nin from Konoha, Uchiha Itachi.

It was insanely fast and frankly ridiculous. But Gai needed back up and Kurenai’s skills were rather redundant in this case, seeing as it was against a Sharingan user.

Serika disliked using ninjutsu, because it felt like cheating, but she wasn’t stupid enough not to use the advantage being an Uzumaki gave her - the overwhelming chakra that sometimes made Kakashi look at her with envy.

Discreetly, and with barely any movement, she molded chakra for an earth jutsu, applied it and watched as Gai immediately adjusted, used to fighting in difficult terrain. Itachi adjusted after a stumble, nimbly balancing on the balls of his feet and then hopping up to avoid Gai’s feet sweeping under him.

Timing it, Serika did another earth jutsu, this one with spikes. Both of them dodged and brought them in range of Asuma’s wind-edged, chakra blades.

Itachi came away with a bloody hand and a crease between his eyebrows.

Killing intent behind her made her duck and Serika saw that she had avoided being _shaved_ by a hairsbreadth, making her gulp.

There was a shark-like shinobi bearing down at her with a sword that looked like it was covered with scales.

Serika somersaulted backwards, hands slamming down again for another earth jutsu, this one specially molded to suck the target down to the earth.

Insanely, the...man? The man just unleashed a shit-ton of chakra and overpowered her jutsu.

 _Hooly coow,_ she thought with wide eyes as she ducked another swing. _I thought that was a rumor, the ability to overpower jutsu’s, that is._

A glance to the side showed Kakashi, still vulnerable. And prone.

Serika decided to remove the kid gloves and upped her speed, hands unsheathing her tanto, which she had covered in seals to absorb any attack. (So what if it wasn’t original? She missed the sword of Gryffindor!)

In a purely kenjutsu fight against one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, she was toast. Since she wasn’t doing that, (hello, ninja?) she had the chance to win it. 

And then Uchiha Itachi had to ruin it by speeding in, nearly impaling himself on her sword and then grabbing his partner for a quick getaway.

Serika sealed her sword with a scowl, ignoring the exhausted and relieved faces on her fellow shinobi’s faces. 

_Bleeding annoying missing-nin_ , she thought darkly as she hauled her friend over one shoulder and headed towards the hospital.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pein Arc.

It was amazing what seven superpowered assholes could do in one short span of time if they wanted to and Serika wanted to punch something, except it wouldn’t probably even dent them-their skin looked artificial and unreal.

She had been conserving energy, keeping things to efficient uses of her chakra like lifting boulders and evacuating the civilians and the children, but one of the Academy students was choking on his own scarf and that crazy woman-thing wasn’t even moved by the little face turning blue.

Serika didn’t announce herself, that was one sure way to get killed. She just dropped down and efficiently beheaded the summoning woman.

Konohamaru fell on his ass and gasped in air. She tossed him the decapitated head. To his credit, he didn’t scream.

“Run that to the either Shizune or Tsunade,” she told him. “They have to analyze that. It...doesn’t move human.”

The boy saluted and ran. Serika did the distasteful job of dismembering the rest of the corpse. She had seen one of them come back to life. It was difficult to move with missing limbs. With a deep breath, she called forth four more copies of herself and they flew in four different directions. She then set fire to the thing and buried it under the earth.

“Think that was enough?” one of her Kage Bunshin asked.

She shrugged at it. “I hope so.”

Another one looked to towards the Hokage Tower. “The fighting is focused in little pockets. It will be easy to see who needs assistance.”

With a nod, all five of them scattered, looking to see who needed the most help.

Kakashi, of course, was the one in the most trouble. Serika arrived just in time for him to collapse under rubble.

“Don’t you dare die on me,” she whispered as she landed far enough that no one would notice her yet. “You ass.”

Akimichi Chouji and Akimichi Chouza were there too and just as in much trouble as Kakashi.

Something to distract him, she thought and almost slapped herself on the head.

With hands blurring through handseals, she slapped it on the ground and summoned her cats. Serika had pushed enough chakra into the summoning that it made her wince a little. 

“Serika,” the largest one, Tomomi, asked. “You’ve brought us to battle.”

“Finally,” purred Marika, a bloodthirsty smile on her feline face.

“Distraction only, you lot,” she told them. “He’s pretty powerful. He managed to put down Kakashi.”

As one, all five of them sniffed in disdain. “That Dog Master, put down? Nonsense. Ridiculous creatures, but they are pretty useful in their own way.”

No matter how much they complained, the cats played distraction enough that she could pull the ninja trapped under the rubble easily. They were sneaky, annoying and masters of genjutsu, like their relative animals, the foxes.

However, everything fled when she finally got to Kakashi.

He had no pulse. At all.

“No,” she managed to say through a blocked throat. “You utter asshole.”

Her hands fluttered on his throat and uselessly at the mask there. He didn’t move.

“Hatake Kakashi,” she ground out. “You utter bastard. Don’t you dare leave me here.”

He didn’t answer. A rage that she’d never known she could feel rose up and stayed there, her chakra answering and those chains that she had known, peripherally she could materialize, appeared behind her and speared towards the unguarded back of Kakashi’s killer.

“Serika, don’t!” one of the cats hissed.

She didn’t care. She was seeing things through a blind rage of tears. She didn’t know how the sun was still shining.

The pierced asshole raised one hand and she flew back.


End file.
